Woman&#39;s overgarment chest bands

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to an adjustable chest band that snugly encircles a woman&#39;s chest under the woman&#39;s arm pits and above the woman&#39;s breasts and positioned over a garment having at least one shoulder strap wherein when at least one of the shoulder straps of the garment are worn off the shoulder said chest band prevents said garment from slipping down over the woman&#39;s breasts. The chest bands of the present invention are useful in keeping women&#39;s garments from falling off the chest of the woman when at least one of the shoulder straps of the woman&#39;s garments is worn off the shoulder. The chest bands of the present invention therefore are also useful for preventing tan lines on the shoulders of the woman caused by the shoulder strap of such a garment when the garment is worn in the sun as the woman can safely wear at least one of the shoulder straps of the garment off the shoulder.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/949,152, filed Jul. 11, 2007. The contents of that application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an adjustable chest band that snugly encircles a woman's chest under the woman's arm pits and above the woman's breasts and positioned over a garment having at least one shoulder strap wherein when at least one of the shoulder straps of the garment are worn off the shoulder said chest band prevents said garment from slipping down over the woman's breasts. The chest bands of the present invention are useful in keeping women's garments from falling off the chest of the woman when at least one of the shoulder straps of the woman's garments is worn off the shoulder. The chest bands of the present invention therefore are also useful for preventing tan lines on the shoulders of the woman caused by the shoulder strap of such a garment when the garment is worn in the sun as the woman can safely wear at least one of the shoulder straps of the garment off the shoulder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to woman's overclothes garments, and more particularly chest bands. Women have long enjoyed spending time in the sun and frequently wear the shoulder straps of their garments off their shoulder. It is useful to wear the shoulder straps off the garments and draped over the upper part of the arm as doing so will prevent tan lines when the woman is exposed to the sun but also because it can be an attractive style for woman to wear. Woman who are out in the sun or sunbathing frequently wear the shoulder straps of their garment off to the side and over the top of the arm. This is sometimes done in order to achieve a tan without the traditional unsightly lighter tan lines. These tan lines are caused while wearing shoulder straps of garments, such as bathing suits, having shoulder straps in the sun. Tan lines are the lighter parts of the skin that do not tan as they are hidden from the sun under the shoulder straps of the garments. However, the well known danger in wearing such a garment with at least one of the shoulder straps off to the side and draping over the upper part of the arm is that the garment is prone to fall off the chest of the wearer. This can be very embarrassing.

These overgarment chest bands of the present invention solve these problems. They are useful in keeping women's garments from falling off the chest when at least one of the shoulder straps of the garments are worn off the shoulder. They are also useful for preventing tan lines caused by said shoulder straps which is particularly useful when a woman is out in the sun or sunbathing as the woman can safely wear at least one of the shoulder straps of the garment off the shoulder.

In the past, chest bands have been worn as underclothes garments generally in association with brassieres and in connection with physiological monitoring devices. Chest bands have not been used as woman's overclothes garments as are the chest bands of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,192 describes an undergarment athletic brassiere comprising an elastic chest band adapted to snugly encircle the chest of a wearer near the armpits and above the breasts. It has a pair of breast cups secured to the frontal portion of the chest band and a pair of elastic straps attached to the cups which are adapted to encircle the legs of a wearer of the brassiere. This complex configuration exerts a downward pull on the cups which is resisted by the holding action of the chest band incorporated in this brassiere. US Patent Application No. 20060212271 describes monitoring respiratory rate with a chest band and US Patent Application No. 20060235316 describes monitoring cardiac activity with a chest band.

In the present invention, the undesirable and often embarrassing effect of woman's garments falling down while wearing at least one of the shoulder straps off to the side is eliminated with the chest bands of the present invention and tan lines caused by said shoulder straps can be usefully prevented when such garment is worn in the sun as the woman can safely wear at least one of the shoulder straps of the garment off the shoulder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to woman's overgarments that are adjustable chest bands. More particularly, the chest bands of the present invention are preferably of less than about 4 inches width. They snugly encircle a woman's chest under the woman's arm pits, but above the woman's breasts or nipples. The chest bands of the present invention are positioned over a woman's garment having at least one shoulder strap wherein when at least one of the shoulder straps are worn off the shoulder the chest band of the present invention prevents the woman's garment from slipping down over the woman's breasts and tan lines can be prevented from forming when the garment is worn in the sun as the woman can safely wear at least one of the shoulder straps of the garment off the shoulder. The chest bands of the present invention can be of any natural or manmade fiber, fabric or finish as long as it is sturdy enough to hold up the wearer's garment. Preferably they are adjustable or stretchable and may be made in a variety of circumferences to accommodate a variety of chest sizes. The chest bands of the present invention can be of one piece or attached by fastening at any point around the chest by fastening means such as hooks and eyes, tied or sewn. Preferable the chest bands of the present invention can be from about 0.1 inches wide to about 4 inches wide, less than about 3 inches wide, less than about 2 inches wide, less than about 1 inch wide or less than 0.5 inches wide. The garment can be any garment worn by women that has shoulder straps such as a sun dress or even short sleeve garments, but most preferably the garments are those worn by woman in the sun such as, halter tops, tank tops, sun dresses, bathing suits and bikinis.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides, inter alia, an adjustable chest band that snugly encircles a woman's chest under the woman's arm pits and above the woman's breasts or nipples and is positioned over a garment having at least one shoulder strap wherein when at least one of the shoulder straps are worn off the shoulder said chest band prevents said garment from slipping down over the woman's breasts and the chest band can prevent the formation of tan lines such as when the garment with at least one shoulder strap off the shoulder is worn in the sun.

The width of the chest band is only limited in that it must fit snugly but comfortable over garments and under the arm pits and over the breasts of the wearer and secure the woman's garment from falling down. Preferably they can be from about 0.1 inches wide to about 4 inches wide, less than about 3 inches wide, less than about 2 inches wide, less than about 1 inch wide or less than 0.5 inches wide. Often the narrower chest band is preferred so as not to detract and overly cover up the garment that is being worn by the woman.

Chest bands can be worn over any woman's garments having at least one shoulder strap or short sleeve. Preferably the garments that the chest bands are worn over are of the type worn by a woman in the sun such as a halter top, tank top, sun dress, bathing suit or bikini. The shoulder strap on such garment can be of any type used on garments such as those used on sleeveless dresses, halter tops, bathing suits and tank tops. The chest bands of the present invention are worn over the woman's garment preferably as the outermost layer of garment worn by the women. However, they can be worn as an intermediate layer between for example a bathing suit and a tank top.

Chest bands are snugly fit so as to prevent the garment from falling down under normal activity when at least one but preferably two shoulder straps of the garment are worn off the woman's shoulder. However, they must be comfortable as well. The chest bands of the present invention can be of one piece or multiple pieces and the chest bands are adjustable to fit each wearer may be made in a variety of circumferences to accommodate a variety of chest sizes. This can be accomplished by way of hook, snap, elastic, tie, button, Velcro®, glue, thread, and other fastening means known to those in the art. A one piece circular shaped chest band made of stretchable fabric is particularly useful as the wearer can easily put it on by slipping it over her head.

There is no limit to what the chest bands of the present invention can be made of as long as they can be comfortably and snugly fitted so as to prevent the wearers garment from falling down when at least one of the shoulder straps and preferably two shoulder straps covering both the left and right shoulder are worn off the shoulders of the woman. The chest bands of the present invention can be made of any synthetic or natural material, fabric or fiber and blends and made of any color. It may or may not have text, pictures, any patterns such as dots and stripes, other graphics and/or embellishments such as embroidery or sequins. Examples include fabrics such as cotton, lycra, microfiber, nylon, polyester and spandex, and fabrics such as CoolMax, crepe, dobby, double knit, drop needle, dry hand wovens, failles, fleece, terry, hydro mesh, interlock, jacquard, jersey, mesh, microfaille, twill, taffeta, oxford, pique, plated, polywarp, poplin, ripstop, satin, tricot warp knit and any finish such as brushed, garment washed, mercerized, peached, plain weave, or polyurethane coated. All such fibers, fabrics and finishes and blends there are well known to those in the art.

The chest bands can be used for the purpose of removing at least one of the garment strap over the woman's shoulder without the risk or fear of the exposure of breasts whether the user is lying down, sitting, standing, walking, jumping or swimming or doing any other activity. They are also useful for preventing tan lines when the garment wearer is in the sun and at least one of the garment straps are off the shoulder. 

1. An adjustable chest band that snugly encircles a woman's chest under the woman's arm pits and above the woman's breasts and positioned over a garment having at least one shoulder strap wherein when at least one of the shoulder straps are worn off the shoulder said chest band prevents said garment from slipping down over the woman's breasts.
 2. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said band is from about 4 inches width to about 0.1 inches in width.
 3. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said band is less than about 3 inches width.
 4. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said band is less than about 2 inches width.
 5. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said band is less than about 1 inches width.
 6. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said band is made of stretchable fabric.
 7. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said garment is a bathing suit.
 8. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said garment is a bikini.
 9. The chest band of claim 1 wherein said chest band also prevents the formation of tan lines on the shoulders of said woman when said garment is worn in the sun. 